Alabama coach Nick Saban narrows quarterback race to Cooper Bateman, Blake Barnett

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (TNS) — And then there were two.

Despite much of the behind-the-scenes rumbling from fans about gifted, dual-threat freshman Jalen Hurts, Alabama coach Nick Saban announced junior Cooper Bateman and redshirt freshman Blake Barnett would be the first two quarterbacks to see action in Saturday’s season opener against Southern California.

“We’re sort of down to two guys here — Cooper Bateman and Blake Barnett are probably the two guys that we’re getting ready to play in this game, and that’s the way it’s going to be for right now,” Saban said. “We’re going to try to continue to try to develop all of our guys.”

Saban still didn’t specify which quarterback would start when No. 1 Alabama faces No. 20 USC at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and even hinted that both could see the field Saturday.

“We make this choice, and we make this decision with what’s going to give us the best chance to win this game. But it’s also about future development of our players,” Saban said.

While Bateman, Barnett and Hurts are in the first-team slot on Alabama’s newly released depth chart, Saban did point out that Bateman’s overall knowledge of the offense was advantageous for him.

“I think the big thing (is) Cooper has a great knowledge of the offense. (He) really manages things well when he’s out there because of his knowledge and experience,” Saban said of Bateman. “I think he’s continued to improve his passing ability and we have a lot of confidence in him. We feel good about the progress he’s made.”

Meanwhile, it’s Barnett’s natural ability as a passer, especially his arm strength and accuracy downfield, as well as having a better grasp of the offense, that gave him the edge over the more dynamic Hurts.

“One of the strengths on our team, I feel, is the receivers, and we want to continue to try to have an offense that can create explosive plays through those guys,” Saban said of Barnett. “Blake has really been an effective passer for us, so we want to continue to try and develop him and see where his knowledge and experience will take him relative to whether we feel like he can be a winning player at that position or not.”

Saban indicated he’s also eager to see if either quarterback can rise to the challenge once they’re placed in a real game situation, just like Jake Coker did last season when he entered the game in the second quarter after being benched in favor of Bateman against Ole Miss.

“Cooper has played some in a game here, which I think that experience is certainly a benefit to him, but I don’t know how these other guys are going to play in a game,” Saban said. “Some of these guys go in a game and they play a lot better.”

Saban used the example of former LSU quarterback Rohan Davey, who Saban joked would play horribly in practice the week leading up to the game but could turn it on and “throw for 400 yards in the game.”

“I kind of like that, even though it was hard to take sometimes in practice,” Saban joked. “But you knew the guy was going to always play well in the game, because he was that kind of competitor.”

Even some of the Alabama players are intrigued by seeing how each quarterback handles a game-like setting.

“I think it’s one thing to be in practice and see what they can do, but it’s another to see how they react in a game-like situation,” sophomore guard Ross Pierschbacher said. “It’ll be interesting to see how these guys compete, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Saban didn’t rule out Hurts making an impact on the team as a true freshman.

“Jalen’s got a tremendous future. I think he’s got great ability. But I think that what you have to be really concerned about is, is a guy ready to go out there and not just do things that he can do, but can he run the offensive team?” Saban said. “Jalen Hurts has tremendous ability. We are not giving up on that ability and hopefully we’ll be able to develop it at some point this season.”